Approximately 31 VTU members and guests attended our April General Meeting which took place on April 7th in-person and over Zoom. Here is a summarized version of the minutes.

Item 1 - Land Acknowledgement and Community Agreements

Item 2 - Discussion

• This discussion was held in small groups in the room and online
• Question of the day: What is the point of a tenants union?

Item 3 - Steering Report

• VTU 2024 Retreat
  • “Naming the Moment” exercise recap
  • Concrete action items, including:
    • More social spaces and activities, including during GMs
    • More frequent GMs to hold space for important conversations and discussions
    • Member orientation at the beginning of GMs
    • Working towards organizing a tenant’s convention
    • Building solidarity with other movements
  • Chapters will be hosting the summer GMs

BREAK

Item 4 - Budget

• Review of expected operating costs for the Union Hall, website, email services, etc
• Expected union-wide expenses such as room bookings, access funds, and socials
• Neighbourhood Chapter budgets will be $2,000 unless a budget is submitted
• We currently don’t have any grants, and so fundraising is suggested at neighbourhood events

Item 5 - Chapter and Working Group Updates

• Mount Pleasant Chapter
  • Positive news against strata conversions
  • Seeing some new action in the Broadway Plan area and the TRPP is getting tested
• Eastside Chapter
  • Coordinating newsletter across 6-building network
  • Fighting against a landlord threatening tenants to get them to leave (eviction by harassment)
• Fairview Chapter
  • Successful social at Granville Park with 50 participants
  • Focusing on buildings impacted by the Broadway Plan
  • Held an Organizing 102 workshop
• West End Chapter
  • Focus on strategic planning
  • Conversations for recruiting and onboarding new members
  • Adding an additional landlord to the top focuses due to recent issues
• Communications Working Group
  • Identified chapter communications reps and working to on-board them
  • Piloting Trello for collaboration and transparency of working group activities
  • Ongoing work on website and brand guidelines
• Education & Outreach Working Group
  • New member orientation at the beginning of GMs
  • Launched the VTU library
• Data Tools Working Group
  • Current focus on data gathering
  • Starting on tools to bring information together for organizing and other research purposes

Item 6 - By-Election

• Steering is currently under capacity and needs more members to volunteer in order to achieve the goals set out during the Visioning Retreat
• Two new members have been nominated
• As there are more than two seats available for elected steering members, the initial motion is to acclaim both nominees
• Motion to acclaim two new members to steering
  • VOTE: Motion passed unanimously

Adjournment